Charles kingston welch



(No Model.)

0. K WELOH. I APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING PNEUMATIC TIRES. 1 To.49'7,464.

Patented May 16,1893.

AZfar/zew UN D TAT "PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES. KINGSTON WELGH, OF '-COVENTRY, ENGLAND, A'ssrenon TO THE PNEUMATIC TYRE IRELAND.

AN'D BOOTHS CYCLE AGENCY, LIMITED, OF DUBLIN,

. PPARATUS IFORC'IMANUFACTU RING QPNEUMATICL TIRES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 497,464, dated May 16, 1893. A pplioation filed January 7,1893. Serial No. 457,619. (No 1110661.)

To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES KINGSTON WELOH, engineer, a subject-of the Queen of Great Britain-,and a resident of Coventry, England, have invented a certain new and useful Improved Tool or Apparatus for use in v Manufacturing India-Rubber Tires, of which the following is a specification.

I jactureo'f pneumatic .or similar tires: The covers or jackets for such time are firequently made up'on acircularrijntechnically-known .--as a mandrel or former, which-in cross-seci5 tion is semicircular or arched to conform to theshape of the finished tire; In certain forms of tire, as for example those shown and L ;-'described-in United States patent to, Brown and Stillman, No. 488,494=, dated December 20,- x .1892, wires or bands of'non-elastic or .inex-.

.te'nsibl'e material are incorporated with or atf tached to the edges of the covers or" jacket's,'. and these are made into continuous rings or annuli before association with the cover. It z 5 isobvious that. if a cover .or tire of this de-- scription be made on an ordinary former l V the wires or bands being of less diameter than outside diameter of the formerwili :pr

'ventthe removal of the cover from the o former after its manufacturehas'beeri completed. For this reason, therefore, I employ some form of sectional or collapsible former, which can be made sufficiently rigid to allow of the cover-or tire being formed thereon,

and which can be taken to pieces or in any way reduced or collapsed to permit of the refmoval of the cover without stretchingor straining. The section of the -t' )rmer.,or that portion of the same whichreceives the 0 cover is approximately the shape of the finished tire, and it is provided on each side with circumferential flanges or seats of very slightly less diameter than the endlessrbands;

In using this'appliance' the endsof' scan- '4 5 vas strip which is to form thecover are ,jpi'ned to form an endless band that may lie-passed over the former. The endless wireser inextensible bands are then passed over the edges of the canvas and around the-circum.

ferentialflanges or seats of the former and forced up closeto the main or arch-shaped vas strip are then drawn tightly and cemented to that portion of the strip'lying over'tho arch-shaped part of the former whereby the wires are perfectly associated with the 7 cover, along parallel lines in the same, for, p ThQPresen't. lnvent onvis a new and" imto proved tool or appliance for use in the manu- "since the said wires seat themselves in the angle formed by the arch-shaped body of the 'of the finished cover must be at all points exactly equal to the distance from one wire to the otherover the arch-shaped surface of the former? Various equivalents for the flanges or seats above described may be used,' as Ishall hereinafterexplain. I

In order that myinvention may be-more clearly understood I will now'proceed to describe the same with reference to the accom- 7o -panying drawings, in which-'- 7 I Figure 1 is an-elevation of one of my im proved formers Fig. 2 is a section on the line mm, Fig. 1, part being broken away. Figs.

3 to 8 are detail sectional'views showing va- 7 rious modes of construction of my improved formers. Fig. 9 is a side view of a i former fitted with a collapsing arm.

Similar letters'of reference denote parts in all the drawings.

In Figs. 1' and 2, A is the rimof the form-. er which is made of any suitable material preferably wood, and constructed of a suitable number of segments hinged together at the joints a, a. The hinge pin a of one of 8 the joints 0; can be; withdrawn when required allowing the former to be collapsed 'or folded up as shown in dotted lines so that the canvas jacket when finished can be taken oli? '-.t he former. An suitable catcher. spring 90 similar "jnay be used to effe'ctthe temporary connection of one of the joints, but the loosehinge pin is a very neat and satisfactory device.

' The section of the former is shown in Fig.

edges. While the tire is being made on the body of theformer. The, edges of the can- I former and thefianges of seats, the width 60 I former the saith wires 1) find a seating in the angles a (1 thus enabling the canvas to be drawn very tightly round the wires.

Instead of using a wooden former I sometimes make the rim of the same of metal which maybe castin hollow sections of a shape similar to the sections of the wooden former shown, but I prefer to make the sections of two metal plates A, A withtheiredges rolled or folded together as shown in Fig. 3 which is a sectional view of the rim. The two plates may obviously be joined in various ways.

In Fig. 4 A is a jointed collapsible wooden rim of the shape which the interiorof the tire cover is to have when finished, and C is a pulley with a cylindrical rim which is wider than the wooden rim A. \Vhen the canvas portion of the tire cover is finished, the wooden rim maybe slipped off the pulley and collapsed or folded together andthe canvas very readily detached. The angles a are formed atthe junction of the pulley O andthe wooden rim A. In place of a wooden rim, I sometimes use an inflated tube of suitable size with the pulley C as shown at A Fig. 5. The tube A is maintained fiat at the side next the pulley by means of an endless band E placed in its interior the said band being of such a size as will cause the tube to press tightly against the pulley so as to form the angles at (t and also to keep the tube in a proper shape.

In another former the section of the rim of which is shown in Fig. 6, I provide grooves a in which the wires are seatedwhile the canvas cover is being made, and I sometimes provide different sets of grooves as shown at a so that tires of different depths or diameters may be made on the same former or I deepen the grooves considerably and provide metal or wooden rims F which fit in the same and thus make the angles a for thereception of thewires or cores in the edges of the cover as shown in Fig. 7. In the formers shown in Figs. (3 and 7 the wooden part is made collapsible and the hoops, bands, or rims F are detached from the grooves before folding the wooden part so as to release the cover.

In Fig. 8 Ishow another method of adapting a former to make tires of different depths or diameters. A is the wooden rim of a former like that shown in Fig. 1, and II are rings placed round the sides of the former .so as to bring the angles a nearer to the outermost part of the circumference. The depth or diminished by an amount equal to the thickness of the rings ll. The said rings are kept in position when in use by the buttons h Figs. 1 and S.

It is often a matter of dijiieulty if the canvas cover is well made to replace the same on a former when once it has been taken oft the latter and I may therefore furnish any of the collapsing formers with an arm or lever G Fig. 9 which links those sections A] A of the former which are only temporarilyconnected together. On pressing the arm or lesometimes provided in order diameter of the finished tireis then 'ver the former collapses as shown in dotted lines in Fi 9.

The former preferably has an arm I which is pivoted .near the center of the former on a stand and atreadle or other means 15 to admit of a retary motion being given to the former while it' is being used.

\Vooden formers are apt to shrink after being used for some time and thus become too small for the size of the tires which are intended to be made on viate this diificultyI may provide that one of the sections shall be capable of being lengthened circumferentially as shown at A Figs. 1 and 2. The said section is divided and one part thereof adjustably connected to the other part by a plate J which isrigidly secured to one part by the bolts j but which is them. In order to obattached to the other part by bolts passing through a slot j in. the said plate. It is obvr ous that by slacking the boltsj the parts can be adjusted till the former is of the correct circumference. "When my improved former is made of metal the tire may be vulcanized before removal from the said former.

\Vhen securing the outer india-rubber portion ofthe tire cover to the inner canvas lining, I often use an inflated air tube for holding the lining in a circular shape. Such an inflated holder is very light and easily handled and it may be def rmed from its cireularshape so as to release the finished tire cover without trouble.

\Vhat I claim is- 1. A collapsible tool or former? for usein manufacturing tires and tire covers said former having a circular rim shaped externally to the size and shape of -the tire or tire cover to be made thereon and provided with circumferential flanges or seats to receive the cores in the edges of the tire or tire cover, for the purpose specified.

2. In a collapsible tool or former for manufacturing tires or tire covers, the combination of, a series of sections shaped externally to the size and shape of the tire or tire cover to be made thereon and provided with circumferential flanges or seats to receive the cores in the edges of the tire-or tire-cover,

hinges connecting said sections, and means whereby the sections are locked together to form a circular rim and unlocked to allow the same to be deformed from its circular shape and the sections to be folded inward for the purpose specified.

' In a tool or former for manufacturing tires, the combination with a collapsible rim,

of rings mounted on the side flanges of the said rim, and buttons attached to said rim adapted to keep the'said rings in place thereon, for the ptirpose specified. I

it. In atool or former for manufacturing tires, the combination with acollapsible rim constructed in sections hinged together,of an arm pivoted rim and adapted to deform the r m from its on two'adjacent sections of the 497,464 I Is;

circular shape so as to release the the cover shaped to fit the interior of the tire, and hoops when finished, substantiallyas set forth. F fitting in recesses provided in the said rim" 5. In a tool or former for manufacturing so as to form. the angular grooves a for the tires or tire covers, the combination with a purpose specified, 5 cylindrical rim 0 of a collapsible ring A In witnesswhereoflhave hereunto set my I5 shaped externally to the size and shape of the hand this 23d day of December, 1892.

interior of the tire or tire cover to be made CHARLES KINGSTON WELCH. thereon, for the'purposes specified. Witnesses:

6. In a tool or former Wormauufacturing FREDERICK BAXTER,

10 tires, thecombination of a collapsible rim A v REGINALD LEW MORGAN; 

